James m



(No Model.)

. J. M. SEYMOUR.

SHEET METAL PRESS.

Patented Dec. 18

rrrr ll NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES M. SEYMOUR, OF NEXVARK, NEV JERSEY.

SHEET-METAL PRESS.

iPECIFIOA'IION forming part of Letters Patent No. 290,275, dated December 18, 1883.

I Application filedAprilY, 1883. (No model.) d

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES M. SEYMOUR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvem ents in Sheet- Metal Presses, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings, forming apart of the same.

This invention relates to that class of powerpresses having a ram or cross-head moved in rectilineal guides by means of a crank-pin rotating in an oscillating block, such block being fitted to a slot in the ram transverse to the guides.

The work performed in such presses consists in punching or pressing sheet metal into concave form in suitable dies, and the punch and its attached ram require very exact adjustment to secure the desired results in shaping the sheet metal.

The object of this invention is to provide means for setting and adjusting the ram more perfectly, for preventing the spring or yielding of the press when in operation, and for pushing the pressed objects from the die automatically as the punch is lifted.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front View of a press provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, showing the goose-necked form to which one part of my invention is applicable. Fig. 3 is a plan of the bed, taken in section 011 line x :0 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a central vertical section of the cross-h cad detached from the frame, and showing, also, a portion of the crank-shaft; and Fig. 5 is aplan of the crosshead detached. Fig. 6 is an irregular section of the eccentric disk and sliding block.

A is the frame, A the bed, and A the gooseneck or overhung portion carrying the guides for the ram, all of which parts are too well known to need description. The bed is horizontal, the guides B are attached to the overhanging top, and the crossfhead or ram 0 reciprocates vertically over the bed, carrying the punch D to and from the die E, which may be formed and fastened to the bed in any desired manner.

F is the crank-shaft, mounted in the usual manner in the top of the frame A, and imparting motion to the ram 0 by the crank-pin n and sliding block m. The latter is fitted to a transverse slot, 15in the ram, and is provided with an eccentric disk, 1', in which the bearing for the pin 11, is so formed as to be moved in relation to the punch by turning the disk in the block ma To hold the disk in its adjusted position,

holes 8 are formed in a flange, t, which is provided upon its front edge, and which is fitted to a suitable recess in the sliding block m, and another series of holes differential as to the first is provided in the frame back of said disk, as shown in Fig. 6, wherein the block is cut away in a section of the are on which the holes 8 are formed, to show their differential arrangement.

I am aware that an adjustment by means of differential series of holes is not new, the same being fully shown and their construction claimed in my patent dated April 24, 1883, No. 276,292, and therefore such holes are not claimed herein, but are shown to illustrate an improved method of closely adjusting the punch to the die by means of their taper form and a tapered pin. The rotation of the crankpin gives a positive motion to the ram; but the punch attached thereto sometimes requires to penetrate the die a thousandth of an inch, more or less, and the combination of the holes with the eccentric disk affords the means of doing this in the following convenient manner.

In Fig. 6 it will be seen that when one pair of holes is in line, as are those containing a pin, q, theadjacent holes are a little separated, and the farther ones still more so. By making the holes tapering, as shown in the figure, a taper pin can be entered in the holes before they quite coincide, which will operate to slightly turn the eccentric disk, and thus bring the holes into a line when it is thrust all the way in, as shown at q.

WVhen the adjustment of a punch needs a very slight alteration, I employ a tapering pin in such manner as to bring the holes one after another into alignment, testing the adjustment of the punch at intervals, and closing the operation when the required setting has been effected, after which a steady-pin of 10o similar'forin is inserted in the proper holes, last aligned, to remain there'while the punch is used. \Vhen the adjustment of the punch requires a greater movement than can be effected byt he rotation of the disk r, I employ removable packing-plates a, which are shown in Figs. 1 and 4, arranged above and below the block in the slot 1'). W hen below the block on, the plates operate to lengthen the cross-head, or the distance from the center of the crankpin to the punch, and when not required at that point are preferably placed above the block. By providing a plate equal in thickness to the maximum adjustment by the disk, and others of equal or greater thickness, I am enabled to raise and lower the punch with great facility to suit dies of different heights.

A wearing-plate, a, is also shown at the top of the slot adjusted by set-screws Z) to permit the transverse movement of the block at withoutlost motion; and my invention includes the formation of shoulders or stops upon such screws, to prevent the punching of the block by a careless operator. lVhen the press is constructed, the shoulders c or the points of the screws 2) are dressed off to hold the wearing-plate in such a position that the block on can move freely, the plates a being also interposed, so that they may also be accommodated in the slot, either above or below the block, the space they occupy being the same in either case. The block and the plates may be held inside the slot by a cover, k, fitted to slides Z upon the face of the ram, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, and omitted from Figs. 1 and 4, to avoid obscuring the material parts. Access to the block and plates is easily obtained by removing the cover 7:, and when the screws 1) are loosened the plates a may readily be changed and any required adjustment secured.

The principal object of the shoulders 0, formed upon the bolts 1), is that the latter may be immediately restored to their normal posi-: tion without trials and experiments, and the block at be ready for immediate operation af ter the plates may have been shifted. Similar bolts, p, are also shown at the side of the ram in Figs. 1 and 2, fitted through the guide B against a gib, B, by which the ram is kept rigidly in its proper path when moving. These bolts are so fitted as to press the gib against the ram with any desired force, and to thus make it move with any desired degree of stiffness. Such an adjustment is commonly used to check the motion of the ram on its upstroke when the driving-clutch is disengaged. WVithout such friction, the ram is liable to descend prematurely, and with the set-screws commonly used the required adjustment is hard to obtain if the screws are loosened for any cause. The shoulders 0 upon these bolts permit me to loosen them at any time and to instantly restore the former adjustment, which enables the operator to set the ram by the differential holes described with much greater case than when the ram is tightly cramped by the gib and screws 1).

The above description shows the means I have devised for setting and adjusting the ram more perfectly.

In Figs. 1 and 4 the disk ris shown formed with an oil-retaining plate, a, which covers the end of the eccentric pin a; but the same is not claimed herein, as it has been set forth in another patent application. The function of this plate is to prevent the loss of oil at the front end of the crank-pin bearing, and the oil-hole a is therefore made at the center of motion of the pin, and the oil introduced when the cover 7: is removed. The sheet metal has heretofore been automatically removed from the die by a plunger-rod, e, operated through a hole in the die and in the bed beneath the die, but said plunger-rod was independent of the die, and its range of motion was coincident with the motion of its driving-carrier. It therein differs from my invention, in which the plunger is separate from its driving-carrier, and the frame is provided with a stop which arrests the downward movement of said plunger at any point determined on, independent of the range of movement of the drivingcarrier. The upper end of the rod 0 constitntes a part of the floor or bottom of the die, and its downward movement is therefore limited accordingly. A cross-bar, d, suspended from the ram (1 by two hanging rods, (2, passes beneath said rod, and on its upward stroke pushes said rod upward to remove the plate from the die. These hanging rods pass through holes f in the bed, at each end of the die, as shown in Fig. 3, and the cross-bar is shown provided with a set-screw, g, which may be adjusted to produce earlier or later contact with the rod (3, so that the rod 0 may move with the crossbar through a greater or less part of its stroke, according as the die is deep or shallow and requires a long or short movement of the plunger to lift the plate out of the die. Any change, however, in the length of the stroke of the plunger 0 is simply in the direction of convenience, because a longer movement than necessary for a particular die will do no harm. The rod 0 is preferably made a part of the machine, but separate from the cross-head (2, so that the range of motion of said cross-head may be greater than that of said rod 0, and each die provided with an auxiliary rod, 0, which operates the same as if it were part of the rod 0 in pushing the stock from the die. To limit the movement of the rod 0, astop, 2 is attached to the frame, against which a collar, l1, comes in contact when adj usted at the proper point upon the rod 6 by the set-screw shown, or by any other means, to arrest the rod 0 at the proper time.

In Figs. 1 and 2 the ram is shown at the upper end of its stroke and the crossbar d and pin 0 raised to their greatest height. Vhen raised from the die by the operation of the rod 0 or e, the metal blanks or pieces can be readily removed by the operator.

At G in Figs. 1 and 2 is shown the means to prevent the yielding of the goose-neck A when the punch is pressed hard in the die, and it consists in tie-bars secured in lugs G at each side of the ram and bed by heating and shrinking into their place. The lugs G are formed in pairs by casting them at suitable points upon the frame and bed, and the bars G are forged of wrought metal with T- heads I, and are so fitted between the lugs that they can only be inserted when red hot. Their contraction in cooling draws the goose-neck into a position which is adapted to prevent any movement, the strength of the bars being proportioned in such excess of the strain imposed on them that the press becomes practically unyielding. By this construction the partial yielding of the goose-neck is prevented, which always precedes a rigid contact of the punch and die, and a more exact and easy adjustment of the tools is secured.

I am aware that wrought-iron links are sometimes shrunk upon bosses at the rear of the goose-neck itself, to prevent rupture at such point wheretheleverage is concentrated; but in such case a solid mass of metal'is embraced by the hot iron, and no bending or yielding of the goose-neck occurs during the shrinking operation; neither is the overhanging part materially prevented from yielding under stress. I

do not therefore claim the use of an iron strap,

' in motion, substantially as shown and described.

2. As an improvement in adjusting devices for guide-plates in punching-machines, the screws b and b, with integral heads or shoulders c, at all times limiting the extent of their protrusion into the space occupied by said packingplates, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the ram, the bed of the press, the die supported thereon, and the lifting-bar operated by the prime mover coincidentally with the ram, of a plunger-rod, 6, separate from but operated by the lifting-bar to raise the punched plate from the die, and a stop attached to the frame to arrest the downward movement of said rod, as set forth.

4. The combination, with the ram, the bed of the press, and the die supported thereon, as described, of the hanging rods d, passing through holes f in the bed, the cross-bar d, the set-screw g, the plunger-rod e, separate from said cross-bar, and provided with the collar h and the stop '5, projecting from the frame, all arranged and operated substantially as set forth.

5. The operating-ram provided with eccentric disk r, a series of tapered holes formed in said disk within its margin, and another series, differential as to the first, formed in the frame back of it, combined with a tapering pin, whereby said disk may be adjusted by pushing said pin into said holes successively, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing,

Witnesses.

JAS. lWI. SEYMOUR.

Witnesses:

HENRY F. GOKEN, THOS. S. CRANE, 

